


Running Away Never Causes Problems

by BatmanFanGirl96



Series: Domestic Avengers [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Feels, Betrayal, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, M/M, On the Run, Self-Denial, Self-Hatred, Underage Drinking, Verbal Abuse, child gang, some sexual content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-04 05:33:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10984401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanFanGirl96/pseuds/BatmanFanGirl96
Summary: Wade and Peter runaway together and struggle with all the motions of not having a good home





	1. So Sick

I look around as I drag Peter out of the building we had spent the night. Peter isn’t looking to well Wade sees it every time he looks at the younger boy. I need to take in a deep breath as panic begins to swell in my stomach. I know I should take him home but he is so scared of getting sent away again. He wouldn’t ever want to harm Peter in such a way the Peter would never forgive him. 

I look back at Peter “you doing okay buddy?” I ask scared of the answer that is sure to come.

“No.. I don’t feel good…” Peter’s weak voice tells me everything I need to know.

“Peter I think we should go home now… Steve and Tony and my dad will know what to do.” I say caressing his hand. 

“No!! They’ll send me away” Peter shouts at me pulling away.

We have gotten far enough away from the tower that he would have to call his mother for help if anything bad happens. I watch Peter as he collapses in front of a woman “Peter!” I reach out for him only for the lady got him before I could do anything.

“Well what a poor boy..” she says softly.

“Um.. please can you help us?” I breath out hopefully.

“Well I did over hear him say no hospitals so I might as well” she huffs “you’re going to carry him” she says taking our things as I pick up Peter and piggy back him.

I follow her to her home feeling uneasy the whole way there. Peter’s body feels as if it were melting the whole time he’s pressed to my back. I heave up the steps to her front door, she looks down at the two of us.

“So why’d ya run away kid?” her bitter voice causes me to tense.

“Because my friend here was scared of being put back into the system” I say softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What Do You Mean They’re Gone?” Bruce yells at the teacher in charge of the field trip.

“They didn't get back on the bus sir..” The teacher cowers. 

I take a deep breath before reaching out to the teacher “you need to leave now” I say firmly.  
The supervisor left before my husband can Hulk-out “sweetheart it’s okay we’ll find them” I say trying to calm him down. 

“It’s okay? Are you kidding me Natasha My Son Is Gone!” he yells as he starts turning.

I quickly duck out of the way from his anger before he can start smashing things. I wait for it to happen but the only thing that happens is that he runs to Wade’s room. I follow him slowly hoping not to irritate him further. “Honey?” I say gently.

“Hulk want baby..” I hear his response and I’m greeted with the scene of the Hulk sitting on Wade’s bed crying and holding an arm full of his toys that we have gotten him. I move slowly about the room.

I get him an extra big blanket and shut the door leaving him to sit in the place he feels comfortable. A sigh escapes me before I leave to go talk to Steve and Tony. They should be frantic at this point. I get to the elevator and make my way up to their floor. 

“HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?” Tony screams as I enter the floor.

“You Lost Our Son!” Steve yells.

I walk over to where the voices are coming from to see Tony crying miserably, Steve had the same supervisor Bruce yelled at moments before up against a wall. “L-look w-we d-d-didn't see them r-run off” the poor guy stutters.

“Steve put him down” I say calmly “it’s not his fault Wade was trained by Hydra and we did start training him and Peter when they got home from school they know how to be stealthy.” 

Steve shoots a glare in my direction before dropping the guy “Get Out” his voice laced with the promise of the man’s death.

“Well what could have brought this on?” I ask level headedly.

“Hydra did this!” Steve blurts out.

“Who else could have? I mean it’s not like the kids ran away be themselves they have it good here.” I look around the room.

Tony sneaks off to the elevator to do god knows what while Steve and I talk out a game plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nice lady lays Peter in a bed before putting a cool washcloth on his forehead. She looks at me and lets out a soft sigh “he’ll be alright it’s just a fever” she says patting my head softly. 

“Thank you ma’am” I say smiling at her.

She leaves us and I crawl into bed with Peter. He’s fast asleep in a feverish dream, sweat trickles down the side of his face. I let out a groan ‘look at what you've done, you're going to lose your closest friend’ the voice says trying to get a rise out of me.

“whatever you don’t know what you’re talking about” I say softly.

Peter tosses a little bit. I sit up a little hoping he’s okay ‘you really think he’s await after a little movement?’ the voice laughs.

“Peter I’m sorry..” I lay down hopefully he’ll be better after a decent nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stand in the elevator with Steve, he has somehow convinced me that we need to go to the police even though I’m sure we could handle it faster and quieter. We step off the elevator so I can check on bruce before we go, hopefully he hasn't destroyed anything or has run off anywhere. I lead Steve to Wade’s bedroom, I gently knock on the door “hey big guy I’m coming in” I say softly.

“Big guy? Did he hulk out?” Steve asks in a whisper and I nod.

I open the door to see Tony being cradled in Hulk’s arms as they both cry for their children. Steve and I stare in bafflement for a minute before I close the door on the crying toddlers “so are we going to bring this up when everything gets back to normal?” Steve asks mischievously.

“Yes of course we are” I grin at him maliciously.

We leave the two blubbering idiots alone as we make our way out to file a missing person's report. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*time skip because I’m lazy*

I clean the nice lady’s apartment for her, earning Peter’s and my keep here. Peter has been feeling well enough to get out of bed for a few minutes to eat, he has to go back to bed shortly after to get more energy. I help him whenever he needs it, knowing it’s good to get out of bed every now and then.  
Today he hasn't really gotten out of bed for anything, his fever came back and he should be sleeping right now. I finish cleaning the kitchen so I go to check on Peter. I walk to his door hearing some strange sounds I open the door to see Peter on the bed seizing. My heart drops as I rush to the bed to roll him on his side. “Peter!” I cry out “come on Peter you can’t do this to me.”

He slowly stops thrashing about so I move to give him space, anxiety ripping through my body. I rush to the phone and dial the only number I can think of and wait for her to answer “hello? Who is it?” she sounds tired.

“Mom…” I whisper “I don’t know what to do.”

“Wade? Wade where are you we’ll come and help you do whatever you need. Please honey” she’s desperate.

“Mom there’s something wrong with Peter… he’s sick…” I say tears climbing out of my eyes.

“We'll take care of him he’ll be fine just tell me where you are and we’ll come get you” she assures me, so I tell her where we are and hang up.

When I get back into check on Peter I see that he’s sitting up on the bed with webs coming out of his hand “Wade I don’t know what to do!!” he yells for me.

“WAH! Peter what the actually hell!?!?!” I shout pulling the web off of him.

“I don’t know!” he cries

“I guess it’s a good thing I called mom…” I say without thinking.

“You did what?!” Peter shouts at me.

“I had to Peter you need medical attention!” I say back.

“I’m fine I feel much better!” Peter says.

“Peter webs coming out of your hands is not fine!” I hold on to his shoulders.

“Wade they’ll send me away” he begs me.

I sigh getting him up “look we need to go now” I say grabbing our stuff.

“Thank you Wade” he whispers as we rush out of the building.

The sirens chasing after the location we left causing people to come outside from their homes. We escape under the cover of the newly formed crowd.


	2. A Long Bus Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad things, happy things, if-y things. It's also shorter than the last chapter

Wade and I run as far as we can until we catch site of the bus station “Peter let’s get on a bus and get out of this place” Wade suggests.

“Do we have enough money for that?” I ask looking around.

“Yeah I played a whole bunch of poker with hydra agents I saved up all that money I never leave anywhere without it I also played poker with the old bitties when you were sleeping” he says laughing softly.

We walk over to the ticket guy who looked at us skeptically “what do you want kids?” he asks in a gruff tone.

“Two tickets to umm… Ohio” Wade says.

“That’ll be hundred and fifty dollars kid” the man glares at us. 

“Okay” Wade hands the money to the man.

The man give us the tickets and we make our way to our bus. We step on the bus and Wade pulls me to the back of it. We don’t say anything to anyone or to each other. I sit and watch Wade as he watches the many people board other buses. I lean against him hoping he won’t disappear if I stopped watching him. I take a deep breath and soon the bus is moving and we’re on our way from getting away from this place. 

Wade looks around at the people on the bus before looking at me, he smiles at me. I can tell he’s worried that I might still be sick, it’s written all over him. “Wade I’m fine” I say leaning on him.

“If you say so” he breaths out leaning back on me.

I notice a little old lady staring at us. She’s smiling but also seems concerned. I cuddle closer to Wade making sure she knows we’re not alone. I feel Wade wrap his arm around me “you should get some sleep dude it’s going to be a long trip” he says patting my head. I nod closing my eyes. 

I wake up to warm light beaming down on me, Wade has sprawled us out across the back seat, I’m still in his arms. I notice him snoring and drooling so I can’t help but laugh at him. I snuggle closer to him before looking the lady from before. She’s still there only now she is sleeping, the ride does seem to take a lot out of a person. 

I look at Wade who moves his arms off of me just enough for me to escape and move to sit next to the lady. Her eyes open and she smiles down at me “well hello sweetheart” her voice is light.

“What’s your name” I ask her.

“My name is Stella, what might your name be?” She sighs softly.

“I’m Parker” I say looking back at Wade.

“It’s nice to meet you Parker” She follows my gaze to Wade “and what’s your brothers’ name?”

“Oh his name is Wilson…” 

“Well he’s quite the loud sleeper” she giggles.

“Huh? Loud sleeper?” I look back at her.

“He snores” she grins.

It goes on like this for the rest of the trip, Stella watches over us and takes care of us on the long trip, she feeds us every two stops and she helps us though such a tough time. Stella Starts telling me stories about her life when she was younger. Some of them about how she met soldiers who hated the war or how she met her husband. Every night on the bus the stories are new and different. 

Soon enough the bus stops in a place we decide is far enough from new york. Ohio, it’s only two states away but it’s also the place the lady got off. Wade and I look around before Wade pulls me one way. 

“Come on let’s find a place to stay” he says smiling down at me.

“Okay” I say softly looking back as Stella gets back on the bus.

 

Wade checks to make sure we have all our stuff so we don’t need to anything new. I watch him before looking ahead again. We wonder around for a few days spending the night in a motel here and there, never staying for more than a night. We make it a couple towns over like that, we eat lightly and we spend a lot of time at the library’s. I sit with wade and learn all kinds of things from the history, math, and english books. I’m very grateful to Wade for always taking me to the library. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A month and no sign of the boys, Bruce isn't himself anymore,every time he passes out and wakes up he forgets that the boys are gone. It’s sad how we try to hide it from him too, it never works. He’s so depressed he can't even hulk out anymore. Steve and Nat are still frantically looking and I just have a feeling like this is all somehow my fault... maybe Peter didn't love us, maybe I was just a bad parent and drove him away, Bruce still doesn't know that the boys ran away… I think if he knew it might actually kill the poor guy… 

“Tony… where is my son…” Bruce sits down next to me

 

“I don't know buddy” I look at him. He hasn’t been eating properly or done anything about that scruffy bread… oh god we're twins.. 

 

“What’s so funny” he asks bitterly.

 

“We're twins” I say laughing sadly.

He stops to take the comment in, he looks at me, then himself “oh god we are” he laughs softly and his laugh slowly turns into crying. Now I’m crying. 

“Dummy bring us some more ice cream’ I say through my crying.

 

“And my son” Bruce cries.

I look at my friend through my tears, guilt eating away at me. How could I have let this happen? It’s not fair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can see the pain on Natasha, she hurts so much but won’t say anything. She won’t cry because her husband is at home crying enough for the two of them as she would say. She’s being strong but I know she wants to curl up and cry. I know I do. 

“ please our sons are missing, why can’t you get that through your head my baby is out there!” she tells the authorities

“We're doing the best we can ma’am” the man says

“And your best isn't good enough” I burst out slamming my fist on the counter “Find my son” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look at Peter and smile, he’s so happy to be here surrounded by all the books, how could I tell him I'm super bored here. I bring him everyday and sit with him for hours at a time, the quiet is starting to drive me up the way. “You know Wade you don't have to stay here you can go do your own thing” Peter says not looking up from the books he’s reading

 

“Oh? Well um there really isn't anything else to do here” I say softly.

 

“There is an arcade down the road so why don’t you go make some friends or something… I hate to see you so bored” He says smiling at me.

“Wait there is an arcade and you didn't tell me?” I ask looking around.

 

“I just told you didn’t I?” he laughs. 

“You're the best Peter” I say running off to the arcade.


	3. This Isn't Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's August 17th (in the story), Peter just turned 7 on the 10th, I did not make up this birthday it's like the anniversary of when his comic first came out. Wade is 9 he turned 9 around the time he got suspended from school in like march in the last story. IT IS REALLY HARD MAKING A TIMELINE THAT WORKS! I AM TRYING. this chapter is short like four and a quarter pages short. In the next chapter it's going to be a time skip, not to far just a month or so. Anyways thank you for reading!

This couldn’t be happening, how on earth could I be losing?

“Aaahhhggg” I groan in defeat.

“That’s was really impressive, I’ve haven’t seen anyone lose that hardcore in a long time” the new voice rang through my ears.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?” I growl at the new comer.

“Only if you want a fight bro” the boy grins at me.

I’m put off by this for a moment “no I don’t want a fight” I say softly looking back at the game screen.

“I haven’t seen you around here before, you must be new” the kid circles me “what’s yer name?” he asks grinning.

“Depends on who’s asking” I chide. 

“They call me Jupiter” he says smiling “you look like you would fit in with my gang”.

I look at him sideways “what do you mean?” I ask, my curiosity being peeked.

“Well first I need to know your name before I go mouthing off about my crew” Jupiter says waving me off. 

I let out a soft sigh “my name is Wade.” 

“Well Wade it’s nice to meet you” Jupitor says holding out his hand to me.

“My opinion is still to be determined” I say grabbing his hand 

“You sure do know how to make an impression” Jupiter laughs.

“Are you going to tell me about this gang or not?” I glare at him for wasting my time.

“Ah yes of course but for a price” he draws a mischievous smirk onto his features.

“What do you want?” I ask fed up with his games.

“Tell me your secret” he says.

“What are you talking about?” I look at him with confusion.

“Tell me about how you ran away” he grins.

“How do you know about that?” I ask shock lacing my voice. 

“Well it’s written all over you” he laughs.

“My friend was scared that his adopted fathers were going to get divorced and he asked me to run away with him” I tell him causally.

“Sounds like true love” Jupiter smiles.

“I showed you mine now show me yours” I ignore his teasing.

“It’s just a gang of runaways or people who need a break from a bad home” he shrugs.

“So you guys take care of eachother?” I ask curiously

“Of course we do” he smiles.

“That’s really cool of you guys” I find another game to play.

“ do you want to join? We can set you up with a place to stay and show you how to live on the streets” he grins grabbing my wrist.

I stare at him, he had to be pulling my leg. This had to be to good to be true, but his face seems so very honest and hopeful that I say yes…

“What’s the catch” I ask skeptically.

“There is no catch you just gotta pull your own weight for yourself” he confirms.

“What about my friend?” I question farther.

“He’s welcome too of course” he nods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where could they be? Why hasn’t anyone seen them? How did they just disappear?

I watch as Tony paces his lab as Bruce just fiddles with some kind of metal. Guilt is eating at all of us, Nat hasn’t been home for a week because she’s still looking for any leads. I go out every once in awhile. 

“Tony are you okay?” I ask hearing the greiff in my own voice.

“Okay?! How could I possibly be okay Steve? MY SON IS GONE!” he yells tears falling from his eyes.

I move forward pulling him into my arms “I know but we’ll find him, he’ll come home” I say more for myself than him.

He wraps his arms around me “Steve what if it’s our fault?” he weeps.

“I honestly believe it is” I say sadly.

“I’m so sorry Steve” he holds me tighter.

“I’m the one who is sorry Tony, I was so close to getting him” I sigh burying my face into his shoulder.

“You know I love you guys but I’m super pissed at you guys so can you take your gayness somewhere away from me” Bruce says bitterly. 

“Guys I have good news!” Nat shouts suddenly as she ran into the lab.

“What is it?” Bruce jumps up to greet his wife.

“They got on a bus, they are out of state” She says “the bus was heading to the west.”

“Well now that we know that we can get the word out there that we’re looking for them” I say hopefully.

“Hopefully they’ll see us too.” she nods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk to the library to pick up Peter, thinking about what Jupiter told me.

“Wade you’re late” I hear Peter’s voice.

“Ah yes sorry bud, it won’t happen again” I say grinning at him.

“What did you do today?” Peter asks walking down the steps to me.

“I met a guy, he seems pretty cool.. Other than him dissing my gaming skills” I say wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

“Oh.. did you have fun?” Peter asks fiddling with all his papers.

“Yeah for the most part, the kid said he could help us out too” I say as we walk back to our make-shift home. 

“How so?” Peter looks at me.

“Oh well, he said there is a place that we can live in until we don’t feel like it anymore…” I look at him hoping he’ll agree.

“We can test it out but I don’t want you doing anything that’ll put you in danger okay Wade” Peter sighs putting his papers in his bag.

“Deal! He told me to meet back up with him in a hour and he’ll bring us to the place” I smile holding him close to me.

Peter smiles up at me leaving me to feel a warm inside. “Well we have some time to kill should we get something to eat?” he asks putting his bag on his back.

“Yeah we can get something to share” I say directing us in the direction of the convenience store.

We sit at the counter top in the store after buying a couple of things. I stare out the window only glancing at Peter now and then. We munch on our shared nachos and snacks in silence.

“Wade I’m very grateful to you, you know” Peter says munching on a chip.

“I know Peter” I smile down at him.

“When is your birthday Wade” he asks out of the blue.

“Oh well that has passed months ago” I say as if it’s not important “when is yours?”

“It was about a week ago” he says softly.

“While we were on the bus?” I ask “so you’re seven now?”

“Yes I’m now Seven…” he say munching again.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nat and Bruce sit together on the couch as Bruce just holds her. Steve is off talking to reporters and the media about our lost kids. And I’m just stuck here feeling sorry for myself. I let out a sigh as i wander back into the lab.

“Jarvis I need to find my son..” I say softly.

“Sir would you like me to look for anything on the street cameras” he asks.

“If you can that would help a lot” I say sitting at my desk.

Jarvis goes quiet for a bit leaving me to idly fiddle with a piece of scrap metal. I wait for him to come back with his data hoping he finds something. 

“Sir, I couldn't find anything other than a small child at the front of a library somewhere in Ohio” he informs me.

“Oh? Can you enhance the photo?” I ask hope filling my gut.

“I’m sorry sir the poor camera quality does not enhance that far away and there is another photograph where an adult come to pick up the child I do not think it is Peter sir.” the hope I was given now crushed once again. 

“Thank you Jarvis” I say in defeat.


	4. What Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what can I say I'm cruel.

I wake up with Peter snuggling close to me, I look around the one room apartment the gang got set up for us. I had taken the living room giving Peter his own room but he refuses to sleep by himself anymore. I let out a sigh as I wiggle my way out of bed to fix some breakfast for the two of us. A quiet knock on the front door sounds through the apartment I make my way over to the door. 

“Good morning Wade” Jupiter grins at me from the other side.

“It’s too early for you to be showing up here Jubi” I say going into the small kitchen.

“Aw I love that you call me that~” he flirts.

‘I don’t trust this guy’ the voices say 

“Yeah well I’m lazy and I don’t like the sound of Juju” I say cracking a couple of eggs in a pan.

“Oh well I just thought you would like to know about the training this morning” he says as he watches me.

“I’m well aware of that already you know my priority is Peter, we have a schedule” I say focused on the eggs I’m cooking.

“Yes I know but you might want to get him to point B fast so you can make it James doesn’t really like it when people waste his time.” he laughs softly.

“Whatever he knows about Peter wanting to stay focused on his studies” I say as I hear Peter waking up.

“Wade?” he always sound so scared when I’m not there.

“I’m making bacon and eggs bud” I shout to him.

“Oh I’ll go get dressed” he says going to his room.

“How are those clothes fitting you guys?” Jupiter asks watching Peter.

“Oh they fit nicely” I say adding the bacon.

“That’s good, how are you guys doing on the whole rent thing?” he looks back at me.

“I got that covered, with the whole pick pocket tricks that I’ve learned it’s pretty easy.” I say looking at him.

“That’s good, I mean if you guys were having trouble we wouldn’t mind helping you out a little more” he says smiling.

“Mind handing me a couple of plates?” I ask pointing to the cabinet.

He reaches up and pulls out a couple of plates handing them to me. I plate the food before putting the pan in the sink “ is that all you wanted to bug me about or is there something else?” I ask setting the plates down at the bar we eat at. 

“I just wanted to make sure you guys were settling in well” He says heading for the door “Bye Peter~” and he’s gone.

“Was Jupiter here?” Peter asks as he comes to sit next to me at the bar.

“Yeah he just wanted to make sure we are doing okay” I say handing him a fork.

“I don’t like him” he says digging into his food.

~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure this is okay” I ask him.

“Sure is” he says confidently.

“I don’t like this” Peter says nervously.

“All you guys gotta do is pitch in a little bit” he explains giving us the key.

“We can do that” I say taking the key.

“Cool we’ll help you get set up with what you need” he grins at us.

“We really appreciate this” I say holding Peter to my side.

“Of course anything to help keep kids from dying on the streets” he says

“What’s your name again” Peter asks softly.

“James” he says before leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of flashback~~~~~~~~~~

“Wade you really don’t have to keep walking me to the library everyday I can do it myself” Peter says holding his bag tightly.

“Yeah well I want to make sure you’re safe” I say watching what’s in front of me.

We don’t talk for the rest of the walk to the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Brothers, Sister, I have returned with my family!’ Thor’s booming voice came crashing into the common area.

“Thor now is not a good time” I say softly.

“What is the matter dear friend?” Thor asks handing off his daughter to Jane.

I look away from the asgardian to Natasha “you’ve missed a lot while you were away” she says sadly.

“Oh it can’t be that bad my dear friends, you act as if the world were to end” he laughs.

“Because for us it has” Tony speaks up bitterly.

“What happened while we were gone?” Jane asks setting Thena down so she can play.

“Well we adopted children” Bruce starts.

“And we believe they ran away” I but in.

Everyone is quiet for a moment Bruce stares at me in shock as the information takes it’s time to process in the broken man “you didn’t mention anything about them running away” he breaths.

“Steve! I thought we weren’t going to tell him that, who knows they could have been running from hydra” Nat only begs for that to be true.

“Nat look at the facts. They go missing on a school trip, they aren’t seen for weeks before Wade calls you, we go to their location and they took one look at us before running off to a bus station. They Ran Away From Us” I say tears stinging my eyes.

A moment after the words left my mouth the loud cracking sound of skin hitting skin filled my ears and the world went sideways. I sit up from the fall only to see Thor and Tony hold on to Bruce.

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t adopted Peter and gotten married in the first place My heart wouldn’t be broken!” his voice filled with pain and hatred.

“Brother Bruce surely this is not the way to go about things” Thor assures.

Tony comes to my side to help me up “Steve are you okay?” he asks.

I only look at him and shake my head.


	5. Things That Need To Be Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is sad, Tony is sad, Steve is sad... Hydra shows up to

I’m not sure how but we stay with the street kids for what feels like forever. Peter always tells me it’s only been two years. Two years of me working my ass off to keep that kid safe, two years away from a family that might actually love me, all for him. He was there before them so of course I’d have to choose him over anything. Long two years of him learning, long two years of me training my body to have better reflexes than ever before, long two years of pick pocketing. 

I stand leaning against the wall looking up at the sky as Jupiter cons a poor lady out of five dollars. We have become almost as inseparable as Peter and I. Everywhere I go he follows simple as that. He seems to really care about me, being only a few years older than me. I’m eleven, Peter is working on nine, so jupiter is around fourteen if I do the math right. I don’t really care I only really celebrate Peter’s birthday I couldn’t care less about anyone else’s. 

“Peter’s birthday is coming up…” I say looking at Jupiter. 

“Oh yeah.. Isn’t he turning ten?” Jupiter asks.

“No nine.” I correct.

“You know if he didn’t still look like a seven year old, you would be able to tell how old he is with how much brains that kid’s got” Jupiter jokes.

I look away from Jupiter and back up at the sky. “You wouldn’t be able to tell how old anyone is by looks” I say flatly.

I see Jupiter nod from the corner of my eye “that’s for sure.. Holy shit that person is going to be so easy to con” he laughs running up to a kind looking man.

Two years of wasting away among the lowest of the low. I watch Jupiter for a moment longer before I turn of the wall I am leaning against and start heading in the direction of the library. Peter should be waiting for me now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They have all given up. They said the kids will come home on their own. I don’t listen. I don’t want to listen, they are lying to me. I just want my son back. How is it possible that they’ve stayed out of radar this long? I wish I can take back fighting with Steve, I wish I could go back and make it so peter knows we would never send him back. I wish I didn’t regret so many things while I’m drunk.

“Tony?” Steve asks. 

“Goway” I slur.  
“Tony are you seriously drunk?” Steve asks critically.

“Whatcha expet, I don't waanna feel anyfing” I try to stand only to sit back down.

“We found out that the boys are in Ohio” Steve says softly helping me stand.

“Where is my baby?” I ask in a moment of clarity.

“We haven't found them yet but we’re looking…” Steve says wrapping my arm around his neck.

I nod leaning against him as he carries me to our shared room. “ ‘m sorry” I say softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So what are we having for dinner?” Peter asks happily.

“I’m not sure yet we’ll have to see when we get home” I smile down at him.

Peter momentarily reaches for my hand only to what seems to decided against it. I sigh looking in front of me only to run into what feels like a wall. 

“Hey watch where you're going!” I growl at the person. 

“Wade?” the man asks.

I look up to see the slim blonde man “hydra bob?” I ask dumphondedly.

“Yeup! That’s me” he grins scruffing up my hair. “Hey kids what are you up to?”

“Dinner.” Peter says bluntly.

“Why don't I take you guys out for dinner if you haven't eaten yet?” he offers.

“It saves us from cooking..” I say.

“Then it’s settled” he laughs turning us in the direction he’s headed.

I zone out on the conversation bob starts up with Peter. I follow bob into a cheap diner, we walk over to a booth and I let Peter get in before me. The waitress drops off menus for the three of us before leaving us to decide.

“What are you doing here bob?” I ask as I look through the menu.

“I'm looking for you.. It’s a mission” He says softly.

“What do you mean?” I ask looking at Peter who is calmly looking through his menu.

“Hydra is looking for you to hold on to for ransom…” he explains.

“I see so you're telling me we need to move again..” I ask finding something to eat and setting down my menu.

“Yeah something like that.. I mean if you ever make your way down to Iowa I’ll take you in” he says setting down his menu.

“Wait you're not going to take us back to hydra?” Peter asks setting his menu down as well.

“Well I don't see the point. Your parents will only take you back and end up beating and killing people to get you back” he shrugs.

“My dads don't want me” Peter says looking down.

“That’s what you think, do you know how frantically both of your families have been looking for you? They have all of S.H.I.E.L.D looking for you along with most of the members of the Avengers” Bob explains to us.

“I don't care they don't want me… they just don’t want CPS on their asses about me” he says.

“What would you boys like” the waitress comes back.

We all order and wait for our food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hear loud shouts coming from the living room of the common area as I exit the elevator. I round the corner to see Thor and Tony face to face over a bottle of booze.

“You Can't Tell Me Not To Drink! You Have No Idea What I'm Going Through!!” Tony yells.

“Please brother, at least give your body a day to relax” Thor calms.

“No Fuck You! You Still Have Your Kid, Leave Me And My Whisky Alone!!” he cries.

“Tony sweetheart calm down” I sooth softly as I reach out for him.

“Steve….” he looks at me with sad tired eyes.  
He slowly walks into my arms and gently rests his head on my shoulder. I give Thor an apologetic look. Tony’s body shakes as he cries on my shoulder. I rub his back hoping to sooth him and bring him some comfort. 

“Tony my dear friend you should go get some sleep and let your body recharge, that way you can have a clearer mind in searching for your son” Thor reasons.

“Go to hell Thor” Tony says spitefully.

“Tony just because you're sad doesn't mean you get to be mean” I scold him. “He’s right you know.. You need a good long sleep.”

“Whatever…” Tony sighs heading to the elevator hopefully going to our room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One punch. Pain.. I did it wrong, I adjust my stance before trying it again. That’s better. I look over a Jupiter and he smiles as he nods at me. I need to keep going, I throw a couple more punches adding the upper cut.

“You're doing really well Wade” he says.

“Yeah well isn't good enough..” I say adding a roundhouse kick.

“That was hot” he chuckles.

“You're distracting me” I glare at him.

“You're going to have to get used to eyes on you because of the crowds at the fights” he says, walking up to me. “When you do a roundhouse kick try to use all of your body like this” 

He moves turning his body, lifting his leg and planting a hand on the ground. Knocking the punching bag really hard enough for it to come back at me. 

“Really.” I catch the bag.

He grins straightening up “ you also need to relax and just let the movements flow.”

“I need to go home.. Peter is waiting for me” I say unwrapping the tape from my hands. 

“Make sure you make it to that fight this friday… it’s very important a lot of money is going in on those fights” Jupiter reminds me again.

“Yeah yeah I know.. Big money” I pack up my things and head back to the apartments and to Peter.

It’s not a long walk but it’s long enough for me to hate the fact that I'm alone. The voices haven’t bothered me recently but that doesn't mean that they won't come back… If I just think about other things or focus on Peter they shouldn't bother me at all.. 

“I really hope Peter is okay..” I sigh as I hurry my walk home.

I walk up the steps of our building until I reach our floor then I walk to the apartment. I unlock the door and see all our stuff packed and ready to go. “There you are! I was so worried we need to go” Peter comes out of his room.

“Oh um.. Go? Go where?” I ask obviously confused.

“Wade Hydra is after us we need to get out of here before they find us…” he begs, concern written all over him.

“Look I still need to do stuff… but Saturday we can go I promise.. Just let’s wait a bit okay, Bob isn't going to tell Hydra where we are so we still got time”

“That’s why we should go now!” he looks so worried.

“Peter we’re going to be okay trust me on this” I say smiling at him.

I watch as his face holds the dejected expression before he lets out a sigh and nods at me “if you think this is what’s best” he says.

I fuss his hair before I pull him into a hug “don’t worry we’ll make it out of here.”


	6. Actions Have Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wants to move on, Wade wants to make some money

Time couldn’t pass any slower as we both worked separately, he knows I want to leave soon but I feel like all he cares about is spending time with Jupiter.. I don’t like him. I never liked him. I won’t ever like him.

I take a deep breath as I get back to my studies, being almost done with this book I would like to finish it before we leave at the end of the week. I don’t get why Wade wouldn’t listen to me… I wish he would be more open with me and stop lying. I hate that he feels he needs to lie.. 

“God I really suck at this” I hear a voice say.

“Dude I’m no better what did you get for number three?” another asks.

I look over at a couple of high schoolers as they work on something together. I look back at my book then back at them before abandoning the book for them. 

“How did you get 6.58?” the first one asks.

“How did you get 4.90?” the second spouts.

I look at the paperwork over their shoulders “you’re both wrong” I say softly causing them to look at me.

“And you know how to make it right?” the first one asks sarcastically.

“At least I know how to plug in a formula” I say spitefully. He shuts up.

“Can you help us?” the second one looks at me.

“Um.. I don’t know” I say unsure.

“We can pay you” the first one opens up again.

I sit down with them and start showing them how to plug in the formula the right way.

“Wow you’re really smart how old are you?” the first one asks.

“Oh well I’m almost nine” I say. 

“Really only nine? And you’re doing this kind of math” the second makes a surprised face.

“Yeah what can I say? I really like school” I laugh lightly.

“You should be a tutor you’re so smart!” the first one pats my head.

“Yeah that sounds like a good Idea” I say smiling at them as I help them complete their homework.

~~~~~ two hours later~~~~~

“no, no Brad I know you can bench press three hundred pounds but you need to slow down. The formula you need is A squared plus B squared equals C squared, you're doing A plus B equals C" I say looking down at his work.

“Oh! Okay” he nods before returning to his work to draw a box around A, B and C “like this" he smiles at me.

I stare down at his paper trying really hard not to facepalm “ no you need to put a little 2 after the numbers then you'll get the right answer" I say with a sigh 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on Wade! I know you can do better than this” Jupiter grins after landing a blow to my stomach. 

I recover quickly as he comes at me again l, this time I catch his wrist and twist it behind his back “like this?” I quip before releasing him and pushing him forward to make him stumble.

Jupiter quickly turns back to me so he can attack again, as he moves to hit me I dodge and land a blow to his stomach like he did to me “damn Wade you are for sure going to win this upcoming fight" he groans.

“Thanks for the encouragement” I laugh as he makes another move, this time I throw him over my shoulder so he lands on his back.

“ouch man that hurt!” he whines moving to get up.

I pin him down before he can and laugh at him as he struggles “ you know it's kind of funny how you're older than me and I'm stronger than you” I tease.

Jupiter stops move and grins up at me for a long moment “it only looks that way because you're on top” he snarks.

I pause for a second and that's when I feel his hands sneak onto my waist before he throws me down on the ground with him. The shock of it all gave him the opportunity to pin me down “well now look who's on top" I mock him.

We sit the panting for a minute, letting the adrenaline die down. I watch Jupiter as he wipes the sweat off his brow and swallow nervously, he doesn't move from on top of me as I start to sit up leaning back on my arms. 

Jupiter looks down at me now, a hint of mischief in his eyes. I swallow again as I bite the inside of my cheek, looking away from him seems like the best option to hide the nervousness that I feel.

The hands I felt on my waist are now slipping onto the back of my neck and head as he turns my face to his. His lips are on mine before I could even question what is happening. In this moment of his lips on mine I forget everything around me and I lean into his touch, pressing my lips to his in response as I wrap my arms around his waist and press our bodies together.

A loud bang coming from the door opening causes me to panic and push Jupiter off me, we're left panting again but this time form a very different reason, I look over to see James coming in with a couple other kids from his group. I stand and dust myself off as Jupiter does the same before rushing over to meet James.

I take a deep breath to compose myself before looking at the four kids “I think I'll head home for the night and rest up.. I'm sure Peter is waiting for me now" I say getting off the mats and gathering my things.

“how is Peter by the way? I never see him around" James asks as I get ready to leave.

“he's good, he likes to spend his time at the library" I say heading out to the door “I'll see you guys tomorrow" I say walking out.

I make my way to the library as I replay the events that happened just minutes ago, blinking away the confusion of the whole thing. 

“well that was super gay" I hear a voice say

“leave me alone…” I whine softly.

“for just a boy and it being your first make out session, you seem to know what you're doing" another chimes in.

“why are you guys back…” I groan holding my head with one of my hands.

“what's Peter going to think?”

“he’s totally going to hate you for that"

“he'll never look at you the same way again”

“And doesn't he just adore you? Oh you fucked up big time"

“I said go away" I look around to see I made it to the library, Peter is there talking to a couple of older kids.

“looks like you are getting replaced already"

“Peter…” I call out to him.

“see ya guys" he says to the guys, he makes his way down to me.

“who are those guys?” I ask.

“he's going to leave without you"

“just a couple of guys who needed some help with their math" he says

“he's lying, they're his way out of town"

“okay… can we go home now? I have a headache…”

Peter frowns with worry and nods “we could pick up some aspirin on the way if you want, those guys paid me for all the help" he says.

“he knows all about you working in underground fights"

“really? That's cool of them" I start walking home and Peter follows next to me.

“yeah it is! They are in high school to which means I'm smarter than them!!” he smiles as he grabs on to my sleeve so he can keep up with me.

“which means he smarter than you"

“that's great Peter” I smile at him

“are you okay Wade?” he asks “did something happen with Jupiter?”

“yes Peter, Wade betrayed your trust and admiration to make out with some sleaze ball kid"

I cough and shake my head “uh.. no nothing… just my head feels a little crowded” I sigh.

“that you warned him to stay away from because he's a sleaze ball”

“oh.. well let's stop here for some aspirin” Peter points at the convenient store.

I nod follow him into the store. I walk around with him until we find the aspirin. I follow him to the counter. The guy running the counter gives us a weird look as he takes the money and gives us the pills.

We walk out and head back to our place. The walk is quiet between Peter and I but not the voices.

“Peter is planning on leaving you Wade"

“There's no running from what you did”

“you're only using the poor kid"

I follow Peter up to our apartment for some well deserved rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure this is the place Nat?” I ask looking around the small town.

“Yes this is where tons of cameras have seen them" she says asking around.

So far there really isn't any information about their whereabouts and it's getting pretty late. 

“doesn't look like we're going to find them today” I give a worn out sigh

“now don't say that, we'll find them it's only a matter of time” Nat says.

“I’m sorry for being so pessimistic Nat… I just miss my son” I looking down ashamed.

“I understand but we can’t give up now… we’re close to finding them.” She smiles at me.

We walk aways deeper into the town heading back to the motel that we booked for a couple of nights. I look around at all the kids wandering around in what seems to be aimlessly until I spot them sneaking down alleyways and other dark foreboding places.

“Dude did you hear about Kitty she went missing a couple days ago?” some kids talk down the alley.

“No way! That’ll the fifth one this these last two weeks” another sounds a little worried.

“You don’t think James has anything to do with this?” a third interjects.

“No not at all man, he’s got our backs” the first brings the attention back to them.

I notice that Nat stops to watch me as I listen to what these kids are talking about. The questioning look she gives me is all I need to start moving again.

“Nat… I think someone is kidnapping kids who live on the streets..” I tell her 

“What? What makes you say that?” she asks.

“There have been five kids who have gone missing this month” I say “I heard the kids talking about it in the alley over there..”

“We need to find our kids and fast then..”

 

“We also need to see what we can do about preventing other kids from getting taken..” I glare off into the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sweet smell fills my mind so I roll over and pat the bed looking for Peter only to find he isn’t there… I swore he stayed with me last night…

“No that was only a dream” the voice says already bothering me.

“Well thanks for the news flash” I groan getting out of bed 

I get ready for the day when I hear a knock on the door. I sigh walking out of my room to answer the door to find Jupiter on the other side.

“Good morning Wade~ are you ready for your big fight tonight?” he asks.

“Yeah of course I am” I say coldly.

“Oh so now it’s okay to give me the cold shoulder? Well news flash I’m here to give you a gift” he mocks.

“What do you want Jupiter” I ask letting him in.

“Like I said I’m here to give you a gift” he says holding out a box to me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Something that will help with you fight tonight. It’s like candy” he says.

“That doesn’t explain much” I glare at him.

“If looks could kill” he laughs “take two” he say before leaving.

I open up the box to see a bunch of orange looking candy, not really sure what to with them I put them in my bag and eat the breakfast Peter made for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright does anyone have any questions?” I ask.

“Um yeah how do I get the answer to question 8 again?” the high school student asks

“That’s easy, I’ll show you again” I smile at him and help him work through the equation. 

“Oh that makes so much more sense than what I was doing” he laughs off his mistake 

I’m happy that I can work in tutoring while I study. It really helps to see what students are actually working on. I go back to the books that they brought with them, the word problems seem to be the hardest for people to understand but really all they need to do is make them more relatable to themselves or have someone read through it with them because hearing it helps them better understand the problem than just reading it.

I explain the next problem to the guys as they finish the last one. I stop as I notice a shadow standing over me, one of the guys looks up at the person standing behind me giving the person a weird look.

“Do you need something?” he asks drawing the other guy’s attention to the person.

“Yeah I need to talk to our friend Peter here” I hear the person say… I know that sickening voice anywhere

James…

I turn around and look up at him “I’ll be right back guys, just keep working on your math” I shoot over my shoulder as I stand up. 

“Let’s step outside” James nods to the double doors leading into the library’s lobby. We walk out the the lobby and sit down at the small tables they have available.

“What do you need James?” I interrogate right off the bat. 

“ well first off I wanna know about that little group thing you’re doing? Does Wade no about it?” the smile he shows gives me a feeling of ease.

“Well sort of he hasn’t really asked about it, and I’m just helping some students who have trouble with their work.” I clarify.

“Oh, that’s awfully nice of you Peter.. Now for the reason I’m actually here, I wanted to know if you could help me with some higher up stuff for the group, you see we have a nice income coming in and I would like you to help me keep track of it all, seeing how you’re smart and all.”

I take a minute to think about what he’s asking of me, what could he mean by a steady income? Don’t these kids live on the streets or the apartment building? 

“Where does the money come from?” I inquire.

“Well the older kids like myself have jobs that’s why you don’t see us around often this is one of my rare days off” he says narrowing his eyes.

He’s lying… 

I only nod as if accepting his words for the truth “so you want me to be the treasurer for the street kids?”

“More like an accountant, there are also expenses that we use all the money for and we need to keep track of where it all goes and who it all comes from” he illuminates what he wants me to do

“Oh I see.. I think I can help with that” I look to the doors leading into the Library “but can I still do my tutoring sessions? They are really important to me.”

“Of course we can work out a schedule a little bit later” he smiles nodding.

“Great” I agree.


End file.
